Happiness and Sunshine
by SolBaby
Summary: Join Chelsea and the others in a series of short stories and one shots as they live out their lives on the Sunshine Islands, where they'll experience pain and joy, laughs and tears, find adventures, create friendships, and even find love.
1. Actions louder than Words Chapter 1

Chelsea wiped the sweat off her brow as she finished watering the last of her crops. She had just bought the seeds from Chen yesterday and she was happy that she finally got to plant her first summer crops, which consisted of three tomatoes plots and two corn plots. It had costed her quite a bit of money but if she worked hard, Chelsea knew that it would all pay off in the end.

The young rancher hadn't been on the islands long, but she had already created the perfect routine that fit her perfectly.

"Alright, let's see." The brunette said to herself as she put her watering can back in her Rucksack. "I've feed Bessie and Hero. Planted and watered my new crops. Visited the sprites. Cleared out the field. Shipped all my items."

She listed each action on one of her fingers as she went, trying to keep track of everything. She looked up at the sky above her. She wasn't a genius, but she could guess by the position of the sun that it was still before noon. Plenty of time to go into town and visit people.

"I can go invite Natalie and Julia for some lunch at Haila's café. I haven't had a break in awhile and it's be nice to hang out with them." Chelsea thought happily to herself as she headed to the bridge that separated her island from Verdure Island. "Oh, it's Monday! Maybe I'll get a chance to see Vaughn. I should say hi to him while he's here. I hope he isn't too busy with work."

Even though she was relatively new to Sunshine Islands, Chelsea had already befriended most of its residents. However, Vaughn was a little different. Not only was he hardly ever on the Islands, but he also had a very gruff attitude about him that made him hard to approach. The few times that Chelsea did get a chance to talk to him, the moody cowboy would sulk off saying that he had work to do and couldn't be bothered at the moment. Usually this would put people off and most would try to avoid him, but Chelsea was no stranger to being given the cold shoulder, and she knew that deep down, WAY deep down, Vaughn was just as nice and kind as everyone else. Right?

Since then, Chelsea had made it her mission to get to know him better, or at least, try to get him to smile for her. It wasn't an easy job, she knew. Out of all the people that lived on the island, Vaughn was the only one who ever had something mean or rude to say, and that was hard to get past at first, but she just considered it as another challenge that she had to overcome. So far she hadn't made any progress, but Chelsea had never known the meaning of giving up. And with that, she had found a new purpose to her walk into town.

Once she was into town, she made her first stop at Natalie's house to invite her to lunch with her. She noticed Taro, an old rancher himself and Elliot's and Natalie's grandfather, outside like he usually was and she greeted him like usual.

"Good morning Taro. Beautiful day we're having."

"Ahh, Chelsea! A beautiful day indeed. And my eyebrows are telling that it will be a good day tomorrow as well! So make sure you keep taking care of your crops accordingly!" The retired man said, wiggling his eyebrows to emphasize his point.

Chelsea couldn't help but giggle to herself. She always thought Taro's way of predicting the weather was unique. He was always spot on, of course, but that didn't make it any less entertaining to hear which body part told him so.

"Alright, I will thanks." Chelsea said. She then noticed two other relatives of Taros, both of which were sporting unique pink hair.

"I have to go say hi to Elliot. I'll see you later, sir." Chelsea said politely before waving goodbye and skipping over to where Elliot was.

Elliot had just finished stacking some shipping crates when Chelsea walked up to him.

"Morning Elliot!" The rancher chimed happily.

Elliot spun around at hearing Chelsea's voice. "O-oh! Chelsea! Good morning!" He said nervously, a blush quickly spreading over his face as he smiled at her. "H-how are you this morning?"

"I'm good, thank you. Just finished with my morning chores and I thought I'd come over and invite Natalie to lunch with me. Have you seen her around?" Chelsea said, looking around for the familiar pink haired teenager. She spotted Felicia a few feet away and waved hello.

"Natalie? She finished her chores earlier today but I think she's over at Pierre's house. She said something about learning a new recipe or something like that." Elliot shrugged. "Sorry."

"Oh no it's fine. I was just checking to see." Chelsea said, a new idea sprouting in her head. "Would you like to come instead? I'm also going over to Mirabelle's to see if Julia wants to come as well."

The blush on Elliot's face earlier was nothing compared to what it was when Julia's name was mentioned. Even his ears turned a bright shade of pink.

"J-J-Julia?" He stuttered. Chelsea thought he looked like a ball of bubble gum the way his face was starting to match the color of his hair.

"Yup. That's right. Would you like to join us?" Chelsea asked again. She thought it was cute the way Elliot obviously had a crush on Julia. She made a mental note to ask Julia what her feelings were back.

"Oh, um, well, you see, er, I'd love too, but, wait not loved, uh, I mean, not that I wouldn't like too, it's just, um, oh geez." Elliot stuttered, fumbling with his fingers as well as his words. "I would, but Natalie will kill me if I don't finish stacking the rest of these crates up and get the rest of them back in the shipping bins."

Chelsea thought the term "kill" was a little strong, but then again, she didn't put it past Natalie. Chelsea had seen firsthand what Natalie was capable of when she was mad, and couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the girl's older brother.

"Would you like some help?" Chelsea asked instinctively, about to move over to where the rest of the crates were before Elliot stopped her.

"Oh, no! It's fine. I can do it myself." Elliot said quickly, blocking Chelsea's path with his hand.

"Are you sure? It's no trouble. I still have awhile before noon and Mirabelle's isn't too far away from here."

"Thanks, but its ok Chelsea. It's my chore and I intend to finish it." Elliot said, determined. Chelsea knew that he wasn't about to let her help so she dropped the matter and began her departure towards the animal shop.

"Well if you say so, then I'm going to go on ahead. If you finish up anytime soon, you're free to join us." She said.

Elliot gave a shy smile. "Ok. I'll tell Natalie you stopped by."

"Thanks. And I'll tell Julia that you said hi!" Chelsea waved goodbye at Elliot and he nearly tripped over a crate from embarrassment. _What a cute goof. _Chelsea thought to herself as she made her way to Julia's house. _Two down, one to go._

* * *

My first chapter and the start of the many short stories and one shots that I'll be posting here! Hope you all enjoy! Thank you!


	2. Actions louder than Words Chapter 2

A bell ringing could be heard as Chelsea opened the front door of the animal shop. The smell of fresh hay filled her nose as she walked further in the shop.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" Chelsea called out, noticing that the main part of the shop was empty.

"Sorry, but we're closed." Came a woman's voice as she entered the room from the main part of the house.

"Ohh, Chelsea, it's you." Mirabelle said with a warm smile as she dried her hands off on her navy blue apron.

"Good morning, Mirabelle. Why is the shop closed? It isn't Saturday." Chelsea asked.

"Ahh yes, you're right dear. But I'm afraid that Julia has caught a terrible cold." The woman said, shaking her head sadly. "The poor thing has been throwing up all morning. I've closed the shop so that I could take care of her."

"Oh no! And I was going to invite her to lunch with me." Chelsea said sadly, looking over toward the entrance of Mirabelle's house.

Mirabelle sighed. "I'm sorry dear, but it doesn't look like Julia can hold anything down at the moment. I would invite you in, but I wouldn't want you to catch her cold, and I know Julia would feel awful, I mean, even more so if that happened."

Chelsea shook her head. "Oh no, I completely understand. I just hope she feels better soon. Poor Julia." Chelsea looked outside.

"First Natalie and Elliot and now Julia. At this rate I'll have to eat by myself." Chelsea said crossing her arms.

"What about Denny? Isn't he usually free?" Mirabelle asked.

Chelsea shook her head. "Denny is helping Lanna with her new fishing pole today. I would ask Sabrina, but she just got a new book and she wants to finish it before the end of the week and I don't want to bother her." Chelsea sighed deeply and Mirabelle couldn't help but smile.

"Looks like you are all out of options. I would have lunch with you myself, but I don't want to leave Julia for too long."

Chelsea put her hands up in protest. "Oh, no I'm sorry. I didn't mean to complain and put you out like that. I know you have to take care of Julia. She needs you more than I do." Chelsea explained. "I just wanted to have lunch with a friend, you know, but it doesn't seem like any are available. Thank you anyway, for offering."

Chelsea was about to leave when she heard the familiar sound of a bell ring as someone entered the shop. A grin grew on Mirabelle's face.

"Looks like one availability just opened up." The woman said, and before Chelsea could question what she meant, the shop keeper called over a silvered hair cowboy.

"Vaughn will go with you in Julia's place!" Mirabelle said in excitement.

Both the rancher and the cowboy were speechless as Vaughn turned around at the sound of his name.

"Pardon?" He finally said in his usual gruff tone.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly impose on him like that!" Chelsea tried to argue but Mirabelle simply waved her away.

"Nonsense, of course you can." She said, walking over to where Vaughn had planted himself. "You're done with your work for today right? Go out with Chelsea and get some lunch."

Vaughn looked at her as if she was crazy. "Why?" Was all he said.

"Because everyone else is busy and so she has no one to go with her." Mirabelle said as if it were the most obvious thing. It wasn't to Vaughn.

"Why can't she just go by herself?" He asked, now looking at Chelsea like she was the crazy one.

"Because Vaughn, not everyone is as anti-social as you. And besides, it will do you good to spend some time with other people and who better than to spend some time with than Chelsea? You too haven't really talked since Chelsea moved here. This is a good chance to get to know each other." Mirabelle answered, pulling on Vaughn's arm but he didn't move.

Chelsea knew that this was the perfect chance to get to know Vaughn better and she wouldn't have minded spending some alone time with him, but she knew that Vaughn would never agree to it.

"Mirabelle, it's fine, Vaughn doesn't have to go if he doesn't want to! I'm completely fine with eating by-."

"Absolutely not." Mirabelle interrupted, continuing to pull the reluctant cowboy towards Chelsea. "What kind of man leaves a woman alone to eat by herself?"

"She said I didn't have to if I don't want to!" Vaughn argued, ignoring Mirabelle's question. "And besides, I'm not even hungry."

As if on cue, a loud grumbling noise emitted from Vaughn's stomach, echoing throughout the shop. Vaughn's face turned a bright color of red as he grabbed his stomach and Mirabelle laughed.

"That settles it then!" Mirabelle said as she shoved Vaughn and Chelsea towards the shops door.

"Now Vaughn, I want you to be on your best behavior. Don't be rude and make her cry. Julia will never forgive. Chelsea, if he is being too mean, then you just come back here and tell me. Have fun you two!" And with that, she shoved them out the door and on to the empty street, leaving both of them speechless.

Chelsea felt her cheeks grow warm. She felt bad for forcing him to come with him, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit happy about it.

"Um, you don't have to come with me if you really don't want too. I'll understand if you don't."

Before Vaughn could answer, he was interrupted by his stomach making another loud rumbling noise. Chelsea had never tried harder not to smile. Vaughn's blush increased as even his ears grew red. He pulled his hat down lower over his face and grumbled.

"Well I guess there's no point in not going, if Mirabelle's simply going to lecture me if I don't." He said before looking back at Chelsea. "And if you're already going then I guess I have no choice but to go with ya."

He turned around and began walking towards the opposite side of the Island towards Haila's Café. Chelsea, stunned that he actually said he was coming, was left standing in front of Mirabelle's shop until Vaughn stopped and turned back around.

"Are you coming or not? I'm going to leave you behind if you don't stop daydreaming." Vaughn yelled.

Chelsea snapped back to reality and quickly ran after the violet eyed cowboy.

"I-I'm coming!" Chelsea managed to say as she caught up with Vaughn.

"What a ditz." Vaughn mumbled under his breath, but Chelsea didn't care. Chelsea made another mental note that when her baby calf was all grown up, she'd make some superb cheese and give it to Mirabelle as a thank you. She couldn't help but smile to herself as the two unlikeliest of people walked side by side towards their destination.


	3. Actions louder than Words Chapter 3

They two didn't talk at all during their walk towards the cafe. Chelsea had thought up plenty of possible conversation starters when she was alone, but once she was actually with him, her brain went completely blank. At first she started panicking.

_Say something! He must think you are completely boring or annoying! Or worse, he might hate you! Oh no, then you'll never become friends! Chelsea, do something!_

But the longer they walked, the less Chelsea started to worry. For some reason, Chelsea was completely at ease when she walked silently next to the cowboy. It was almost like there weren't any words that needed to be exchanged. Simply walking was enough to fill the need for conversation. Chelsea decided to take the chance to observe her partner.

She never really noticed it, mostly because he usually always wore a frown whenever she was around, but Vaughn was very attractive. His pale skin and chiseled, set jaw line complimented him handsomely. His silky, silvery hair shown in the sunlight as they walked, the parts that weren't hidden underneath his hat, and his eyes. Chelsea had never known someone with purple eyes until she moved to the islands, but she could stare at his eyes for forever. They were a bright Violet, and they were the prettiest things that Chelsea had ever seen.

Chelsea tried not to stare at his features to long so Vaughn would notice, but was entranced by them. She couldn't help staring at his expression. Usually it was either a cold sneer or an annoyed frown, but right now as they walked, it looked calm. Serious, but also calm, as if he was just as lost in thought as she was.

Without saying a word, Chelsea had already learned so much about the mysterious cowboy and she didn't even notice that they had reached the cafe until Vaughn opened the door for her and grunted to get her attention.

"Geez, aren't you little miss day dreamer today, wouldya get a move on?" He said impatiently.

"O-oh, thank you!" Chelsea quickly said as she walked past him.

"Whatever." He mumbled and followed her in.

Haila's café was a quaint little place, with pretty little flower arrangements on every table. The smell of freshly baked bread and mint tea filled the air as calming music played from some unseen radio. Chelsea loved coming here and relaxing after a busy morning and simply letting the gentle atmosphere wash over her.

Vaughn wasted no time enjoying said atmosphere as he walked straight towards the counter to order his food. Chelsea followed after him.

"Good afternoon. What can I get for you today?" Haila asked patiently.

"I'll have some toast, one fried egg, and some hot milk." Vaughn recited as if this was routine. (Which it was.)

"Coming right up, dear." Haila replied, writing down his order in her little notepad. Vaughn turned quickly towards Chelsea.

"What do you want?" He asked coldly.

Chelsea blinked. "What?"

"To eat! You came here to eat didn't you?" The cowboy glared at her.

"O-oh, right! I'll just have a sandwich and some water, please." Chelsea answered quickly.

"What a ditz." Vaughn repeated her order to the older woman.

"Alright, and will that be together or separate bills?" Haila asked. Chelsea was about to answer as separate, but Vaughn spoke up first.

"Together."

"All right, then your total comes to 680 G's please." Vaughn handed her the money.

"Thank you. You'll order will be ready soon." Haila said with a smile before turning around to prepare the meal.

Vaughn walked away towards one of the empty tables next to the windows and sat down. Chelsea followed him hesitantly.

"Vaughn, um." She started after she had sat down opposite of the cowboy. "I'm sorry."

Vaughn raised an eyebrow. "What do you have to be sorry about?"

"For making you pay. I didn't mean to make you feel like you had to. I'll pay you back if you-."

Vaughn cut her off. "You didn't make me do anything." He scoffed. "Making a woman pay, I wasn't raised in a barn. I at least know some kind of common decency." Vaughn's comment reminded Chelsea of the one Mirabelle had said before at the shop. "What kind of guy do you think I am?"

Chelsea started at him in wonder. She hadn't thought much of it earlier, but Vaughn was actually always like that. Always showed common decency. Chelsea remembered how whenever she was spending a late night out at Nick's diner, Vaughn would always scold her, saying that it was too dangerous for a girl to walk home alone at that time of night, and he'd always make sure that she left before it got too late. Another memory flashed into her head, when she remembered when she had first gotten Bessie, her baby calf. Chelsea was so excited that she bought a bunch of Fodder. At the time, she didn't know that she could have just had it delivered to her barn, so she tried to carry it all by herself. She didn't realize how heavy hay could be until she had bunch of it in her arms. She didn't even make it out the door before Vaughn came rushing after her and grabbed most of it from her. "Idiot." He had called her, saying that there was no way she was strong enough to carry it all by herself and proceeded to carry most of it for her.

At first, Chelsea had thought that he was just a rude and grumpy person, but now she realized that he was always helping others, even if it wasn't in the way you'd expect. He might not have said the most helpful of things, but Chelsea had always believed that actions spoke louder than words. And Vaughn's actions had been yelling at her all along. He was actually a very kind person. He had even opened the door for her and bought her meal. Something only a gentleman would do. Chelsea couldn't believe that she never noticed it before. She never really noticed him before.

"Sweet." Chelsea finally said, smiling at Vaughn.

The cowboy scowled back. "What?"

"Sweet. That's the kind of guy I think you are. A very kind and sweet gentleman." Chelsea replied.

It was Vaughn's turn to stare at Chelsea in wonder. His violet colored orbs grew wide at the rancher's words. Chelsea wondered if she had said something stupid to upset him when she noticed his cheeks turn a colorful pink. Was he… embarrassed? Chelsea had to bite back a smile as she stared back at the now speechless cowboy. _He looks cute when he blushes._ Chelsea thought to herself.

Before Vaughn could even think to utter a word in response, Haila brought over their food.

"Here you are. One toast, fired egg, and hot milk combo for the gentleman and one sandwich and glass of water for his cute girlfriend." Haila replied, putting the food down before the duo. Vaughn nearly fell out of his chair.

"SH-SH-SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Vaughn yelled a little too loudly, pointing a finger at the rancher. His face was now as red as Chelsea's bandanna. Chelsea could feel her own cheeks grow hot at the word 'girlfriend.'

"Oh, you're not? My apologies, it's just that you too seemed to get along so well, I just assumed-."

"Well you assumed wrong!" Vaughn said defensively. Chelsea tried to hide her embarrassment by taking a bite out of her sandwich. Did they really look like a couple? Did it really look like they were getting along that well? Chelsea couldn't help but feel a little happy at the thought of her and Vaughn growing closer. That meant that her plan to become better friends with the cowboy was working.

'I apologize. I hope you enjoy your meal." The woman said with a slight giggle in voice. She turned towards Chelsea and gave a quick wink before heading back off towards the kitchen. Chelsea tried really hard to focus on her sandwich.

Vaughn seemed to calm down a bit as he shook his head and bit into his own food. "This is why I didn't want to come." He mumbled to himself. "People get the wrong idea when I'm around others. Especially ditzy girls."

Chelsea didn't mind his harsh words. She wasn't going to be fooled by what he said any more. "Maybes it's just because they haven't gotten to know you yet. They don't know how kind you are."

Vaughn nearly choked on his milk. He stared at her with those brilliant purple eyes. "Twice." He muttered, wiping some milk from his chin.

"Hm?" Chelsea said, taking another bite out of her sandwich.

"Twice you've called me kind." He replied.

"And?"

"And what makes you think you know anything about me. When have I ever said anything kind to you?" Vaughn replied as a matter of factly.

Chelsea looked out the window and shrugged. It was true that she didn't know much about Vaughn at all, but that didn't mean that she wasn't progressing; even if it was slowly.

"It's not really what you say that makes an impression on me. I know you're kind because of what you do to prove it. You're actions speak louder to me than any words can."

Vaughn just stared at her. This time, his look wasn't one of awe, but confusion. A calculatingly cold look that told Chelsea that she spoken too much. She quickly took another bite out of her sandwich and smiled.

"Hmmm, Haila's food sure is good, huh?" She asked, trying desperately to change the subject. Vaughn just continued to stare at her before finishing up his own food.

"Yeah. Good."


End file.
